[PigRigger]

"And what penance do they prescribe for people to make right what they have done?"

I must ask.. do you beleive we can earn God's grace? When did Christ say you will find forgiveness through any action of your own... In reading the Bible it is clear, you call with a repentent heart for the father to forgive you through the justification of the Son's actions.... not our own... We do not earn favor... it s a gift, so we may not boast in ourselves....

[Claud]

I must ask.. do you beleive we can earn God's grace?

No. We do not believe that. Categorically, absolutely not. There is no way to earn God's grace...as a matter of fact the word itself in Latin indicates that it is a free gift...*gratia*.

This from the Council of Trent:

ON JUSTIFICATION

CANON I.-If any one saith, that man may be justified before God by his own works, whether done through the teaching of human nature, or that of the law, without the grace of God through Jesus Christ; let him be anathema.

Christ said to the Apostles in John 20: whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained. Doesn't that sound to you like He intended God's forgiveness to be mediated through the Church?